The place was called Anshan—technically part of Elam, technically part of nowhere important yet. To the north rose the Zagros Mountains, jagged teeth biting the sky. To the south stretched the Persian Gulf, blue and indifferent. To the east lay the endless Iranian plateau, where wind carried dust and the ghosts of older empires. To the west flowed the Tigris and Euphrates, cradling Babylon, Assyria, and every other power that had ever thought it owned the world.
